Ever since the numeric codification of streets and buildings received general acceptance, an individuals' name and their household postal addresses have been linked. The sender of a mail piece or package would deliver a mail piece or package to the post or a courier that had the correct recipient postal address, and the post or courier would deliver the mail piece or package to the numeric street address of the recipient of the mail piece or package. A correct recipient postal address for the delivery of the mail piece or package to the recipient included: the name of the recipient; the street address of the recipient; the city and state of the recipient; and the zip code of the recipient. Thus, the correct recipient postal address is usually the actual location of the recipient.
The post has created special delivery services for important and/or valuable mail pieces, i.e., certified mail, registered mail, etc., and special services for packages, i.e. insurance. Courier services have also utilized special delivery services for important and/or valuable mail pieces and packages. When some special services are requested by the mailer the post and courier services ask the recipient to sign for the delivery of the mail piece or the package. The post and courier services have sent the mailer a certificate bearing the recipient's signature indicating that the recipient received the mail piece or package. The mailer had no proof that the recipient received the contents of the mail piece or package. For instance, tenants sometimes argued in court that they did not receive an eviction notice from their landlord. Recipients of packages sometimes stated to the mailer that certain items that were shipped were not shipped. For instance, recipients sometimes complained they did not receive their watches, electronic devices, etc. The prior art did not tie or relate the delivery of the mail piece or package to what was inside the mail piece or package.
The foregoing problem may occur more frequently as larger amounts of goods are ordered from catalogues or via the intemet and shipped to the customer.